Pondering

You know how when you're in your 20's and you spend oh so much time pondering on life, fate, the future, the meaning of life? Oh I know, this is a group of topics that are first pondered when we hit those mid=teen years when we have so little control over things in our lives...

Usually we have time in our later years to do "Deep Thinking" and I was thinking the other day, as I hurried through one chore to get to the next one...I've not had enough time for deep thinking lately.

And it bugged me.

I love my life, my beloved Lee, my children....but I'm so busy being busy that I'm not spending time doing some Kirsty thinking. I know, I *know* my purpose here is to love raise and nurture my children and I'm giving 100% of me to that effort...but I think I am going to carve out some time to reflect.

To think about those big questions. I've made time to get house work done, diapers washed, meals cooked, and recently added "reading", "gardening" and a wee bit of "quilting"...all important ingredients in the recipe of life.

But if I don't add the most important ingredient, "thinking quietly" I don't think my recipe will compute. I don't think I will compute.

ah, well, I'm tired. So tired. Midnight is hard on me, and my cough syrup has taken it's toll...are we drunk on it or stoned? dunno, just so glad I'm not coughing...of course, I've not tried to lay down yet so I may be back.

be ware You may be subjected to another stoned on cough meds blog entry!

now, go somewhere and reflect!

wierd things about me...

Laume posted on her blog beachtreasure about a meme where you post a bunch of things that are "wierd" about oneself. Hmmm. And what, if we are all individuals, is the true meaning of wierdness?

Like Laume, I often know who is on the other end of the phone when it rings.

I also will think "oh, I've not heard from so-and-so for awhile" and I'll either get a phone call, email, or snail mail within 24 hours from that so and so.

I like to change my hair color. Often. Sometimes 3 times in a two week period, like last week.

But I like the red/brown color it is just now so I'll keep it awhile. If only it would make my face as thin as the picture on the box...

I cry during sappy commercials. Even if I've seen them before.

I have had more kids join our family in my 40's than in my 20's, and two of those were infants!

I like to wear wool blend socks in the summer. Well, year round, really.

I sometimes forget that I'm nearly 50 and get shocked with my mirror's reflection when I walk past the front hall mirror.

I don't believe in using deodorant.

I howl at every full moon, from outside in my driveway. Loudly.

I gave up shaving my legs when I went through menopause. What's the point?

I prefer my spices to be alphabetized but my family makes fun of me when I do it so I only fix the cabinet once a year.

I like my life. Sometimes I complain, but not really loudly, and not for very long. Since so many people I know complain about every wee facet of their lives, I would love to consider *them* wierd, but I think it might must maybe be me!

I like ironing and weeding.

The end.

Happy Days....

Here's the younger set in the kitchen this very morning, all happy! Such a nice thing to have everyone having happy smiles on a Thursday morning. Of course, when we hear things like it's supposed to be in the upper 80's today, sunny and wonderful that could bring a smile to the most dour of faces! When you consider that we had a frost warning 2 nights ago and have been running the heat again...well, we'll hope that all that is behind us now! I spend some time in the garden yesterday, transplanting some Hosta to my side yard where a trencher dug up our crumbling gas line a few months ago. We lost some Spring plants as well as Hosta, so this fall we will replenish them and have a full garden once again. It felt good to have my hands in the dirt again. Tonight I go to an information meeting about our community garden plot. It's up on the hill bordering the last apple orchard that Johnny Appleseed, our native son, planted before he headed west. This is still a working orchard, purchased several years ago by our fair city to protect it from zealous developers. We've not had a garden plot for over 20 years, so it will be fun to have a garden for veggies once more. Our yard has 40 or so maple trees surrounding the property so we don't have enough light for veggies here. The one area that gets the most sun is about 4 foot square and has a rose bush, Black Eyed Susan, and Purple Coneflower (echanachea).

Wow, don't know how I got on the garden tangent, except the fruits of my labor yesterday are visable outside the window next to my computer and I was smiling to see how well they have transplanted and...oops there I go again!

Okay, back to my human children! This picture of Lissa was taken last week. She is starting to creep/scoot in her crib and playpen, and is rolling like a champion. I think I took this on her 5 month "birthday"...she hit 16 pounds this week so she's a very solid girl. I saw a little baby boy who was born 3 days after she was, and he is nearly the same size and much chubbier than she is, so I am not worried about her "supersize"!! I think it's so hard for me because KC was a preemie, and was 16 pounds when he was a year old (and we thought that was wonderful...well it was...for KC!). The impish smile is what I see every day when she wakes up, and keeps me going through the screaming dervish she becomes between 7 and 8 p.m. as she fights to keep awake for one more minute! Oh, she is a stubborn lass...and I'm glad of it as she will need to be a stubborn lass to succeed in this world!

Today I...

spent the day re-organizing my adopted room. Since Lissa came home to us in December, I've been sleeping downstairs in my mother in law's room. Mum lives in Maine, but the room is hers, and we use it for a guest room, and storage etc. And Lissa and I have been sleeping downstairs here so that Lee and KC will be able to sleep through the night. After all, Lee has to go to work each day, and I'm so glad I don't have to go out of the house to do that, and KC...well, who want's a cranky 2..er. . . 3 year old all day? So moving downstairs was easier for all 4 of us.

But this week Lissa began REALLY rolling over. She did it once at the beginning of April, front to back, and mid-April she went over back to front. Since then, nothing. Then yesterday she rolled over, I rolled her back and this went on for 20 minutes. She is so charmed by her mobility it's so awesome to see her grin and laugh with her accomplishment. This did, however, present the problem of her sleeping in bed with me, as she can wiggle down the side of the co-sleeper "box" and then roll into the middle of the bed. I'm such a sound sleeper once I'm out that I'm afraid I'd smush her, so there was nothing for it than I set up our crib.

Have you ever read "IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE"?? Great kids story about cascade effect ...and that kinda sums up this whole setting up the crib. It was upstairs in what will someday be Lissa's bedroom, all set up of course. So I had to take all the baby blankets off of it, move the 3 piles (different ages/seasons) of baby clothing that I've been meaning to pack/sort/or put away in the attic, and attempt to get the crib through the door. Get one side through, then the body...then..stuck at the other end. Drat! Rats!! Dammitall!!! Get side unstuck from doorjamb and only hit bruised knuckles once or twice, push crib back into room...yup, have to take it apart to get it downstairs. This takes about 20 minutes, not as bad as I remembered. Make 4 trips downstairs with assorted cribrails, sides, ends, mattress etc. Get sidetracked by a kid, lose an hour, go back to room to assemble the crib. Where the hell is my screwdriver? ? Spend 40 minutes looking for it, work with Rob on homeschooling project question, get KC a snack, check Lissa (napping), wake Lissa up accidentally while checking her, stop to feed her, go and run 2 errands, 2.5 hours later, back to work on crib...oh drat, that's right, lost my screwdriver...look at floor to ponder where I could have put it...there it is, right under the side rail of the crib, on the floor. PHew! Assemble crib. Look at where I can put it ..this room is crammed with furniture....

This engenders moving the double bed 3 times, putting all the winter clothing that was on top of the pine chest away so I could move that someplace, put away 2 sets of bedlinens in the drawer of the other chest, find homes for homeschooling supplies I don't use all that often, and FINALLY, I find the right spot for the crib (well, I knew where I wanted that to be all along), the bed, the 4 dining room chairs that have to be stored in here, the pine chest, the wee pine chest that has sewing supplies in it, the nightstand, the nightlight, AND I have made the bed as well! Now it is 230, I'm hot and tired, as it is almost 90 here with hight humidity, the kids are wild, and I had just 4.5 hours of sleep last night, and phew...it's time to cook dinner !! Lee skipped lunch at work today so she'll be extra hungry, what can I whip up fast fast fast, and still have a few minutes to sit and get off my tired mules?

Thank goodness for "fast" food vegetarian helpers. Morning Star Farms makes these "beef" strips (and chicken ones too) that you only need to lightly saute to prep. I had them on top of a light (doctored) pasta sauce and box spaghetti with the faux beef on top, a fresh salad, and all prepped in under 30 minutes! It was wonderful to carb up after moving all that furniture.

So now I'm heading off to enjoy my "new" room! Hopefully Lissa won't hate her crib forever, and I'll get used to not having her sweet self right next to me (sob)...and her wee cute turtle head popping up at 4 a.m. to laugh me awake for her bottle time! An adjustment for us both.

I've been a co-sleeping parent for 3 years now, this is so hard! Harder than moving all that furniture today...well, I'm stalling now, so I'm off!

Woodland Sprite

I have to tell you, the boys were horrified when I told them I'd posed their sister in the brook.
"IN THE BROOK??!!" they hollered, practically in unison!
"In the Brook?" Lee quieried right after the boys.
"Yup, in the brook" I replied with a smile.
No, her feet did not get wet, nor did her bottom, at least not from the brook! No, she was not sitting on a rock exactly. There is a large rock that had a lot of debris in it from our spring rains, and it made a lovely hummock to sit her upon, with a nice pair of sticks for her to lean back upon, just like the brook was waiting for her (and I'm certain it was!). KC had his picture taken here as well, when he was about 2 months old. Lissa is double that in this picture, and she was totally fascinated by the stick she is holding onto.... and then....


she saw the water running past her feet and this was her reaction! I will mention that the brook runs about 2 inches deep unless it is stormy....

The view from my window

Isn't this a wonderful thing to look at all Spring? The truly wonderful part of this garden is that my son Rob planted these tulips and daffodils over the past two autumns. He is 10!! I put in the Bleeding Heart and the Hosta from the backyard, but everything else is Rob's work. He pores over the catalogue from Breck's each summer, just plotting and planning where everything will go ... I..... I get to reap the benefits of his fascination with bulb planting.

It's been such a wierd spring too...first it was sunny, then the sun went away for about 15 days, and then it snowed, and sleeted, and finally, when it rained, it rained BUCKETS! So many people in the northeast were flooded out seriously, and had homes destroyed when the high tide, and wind driven waves took out their property that I'm not complaining at all about the mere 3 inches of water we had in our basement. And now 2 or 3 weeks later, and it's so dry out we're in fire danger alert! And we had a frost last night,and today it will hit 80, wihth 90's predicted for tomorrow...as I say, strange.

But I have a beautiful garden, and a wonderful son who makes it happen for me!